Macro on Monday - Guess What

Congratulations and the virtual gold star to TexWisGirl, Wilma, Adrian and Ragged Robin for recognising that last week's mystery photo showed part of a dragonfly:







I'm pretty sure it is a female Common Darter. There was a male resting on the same small piece of wood but they were too far apart to get them both in focus at the same time.

 


On to this week's mystery photo made from ten stacked macro shots.
Guess What:


Clue: Grab the knotted string but mind your knuckles.

No prizes. Just for fun. Any guesses left in the comments will be revealed, along with the answer, next Monday.

Little and Large (Hedgehogs)

Occasionally two Hedgehogs are feeding at the same time. This time a juvenile was eating inside the Hedgehog House when an adult turned up. When the youngster left the house and saw the adult it was very cautious and decided to make for pastures new. It looks as though the adult made sure the little one continued on its away:



Yesterday I had zoomed the outside camera for a bit closer coverage outside the Hedgehog House. Most of the IR LEDs on the camera are covered with electrical tape. There are 5 waterproof 1W lamps just above the slabs which enables the camera to work in colour.

Roosting Great Tit - Video

I was quite surprised yesterday evening when the Great Tit used the nestbox as a roost, mainly as the temperature was 18C so it wasn't for warmth. Must be a case of squatters rights!



Going by past experience this is probably a female Great Tit. Yesterday she spent some time in the box examining it and what looked to be calling for the male to join her. An activity I have seen in the past.

Juvenile Goldfinches

I don't ever remember seeing juvenile Goldfinches this late in the year. I guess they have raised a second clutch of eggs this year. The young one on the right looks to me to have recently fledged:



You can tell the young Goldfinches by the missing or patchy red on top of their heads:



Here a Greenfinch is just launching itself to drop down to another feeder:


A bit of video taken yesterday with the Canon 50D running Magic Lantern.
Towards the end one decided that the queue was too long for the feeder so dropped down to try some dandelion seeds.



The black with white blobs always makes me think they are wearing a tail coat ready for a formal dinner.

Great Tit Roosting in the Nestbox Tonight

Mice Like Peanuts Too

The resident mouse which seems to live under the Summerhouse always helps itself to some of the unsalted peanuts I put down for the Hedgehogs:



It makes several forays day and night but so far I haven't seen it meet up with any of the Hedgehogs.

HDR Art .....

... is an app for the iPhone which works well at 2x size on the iPad.  If you have a dowdy looking photo you want to make look more artistic then HDR Art has plenty of facilities for experimentation. Photos can be taken with the built in camera or loaded from the camera roll. Once in the app there are a whole host of possibilities for changing the look.

   

The first screen (on the left above) shows three of the possible effects. These can be flicked left or right to scroll through the whole range of 63 offered. For each there is a second screen (right above) offering various adjustment to the overall effect.

A few finished examples:







 

Some effects are subtle and some are drastic and gaudy. Something to suit all tastes and scenic moods. How much does this great little app cost? A mere 99c or 69p. Although designed for the iPhone, resolution isn't limited. It will work happily with files I have imported to the iPad which were taken on the Nikon. There are three choices for the saved resolution which can go to the camera roll or be emailed, sent to Twitter and Facebook as well as being printed.

Mediachance, who produced the app, have a good video which shows things better than I can describe them:


I have no connection with Mediachance, just an enthusiastic user.